(Hint: the money doesn’t fund the Commission)

Administrative penalties are not revenue -- the Commission doesn’t make money from administrative penalties. Instead, the money goes to a trust account to pay consumers for judgments against a license holder.

By law, an administrative penalty collected by the Commission for a violation of The Real Estate License Act goes to the Real Estate Recovery Trust Account. That trust account is used to pay certain civil judgments against license holders for violations of The Real Estate License Act. A similar law applies to administrative penalties collected for violations against real estate inspectors, which go to the Real Estate Inspection Recovery Fund.

For further information on these trust funds see our Recovery Fund page. The laws and rules governing the funds are on our website at Subchapter M, Chapter 1101, Texas Occupations Code (Sections 1101.601 to 1101.615), Subchapter H, Chapter 1102, Texas Occupations Code (Sections 1102.351 to 1102.364), Texas Occupations Code, and the rules (search by “recovery’).

Published March 2018